Euroleague Tips with Previews – Wednesday matches

• Zalgiris holds a 7-3 edge over Crvena Zvezda this century.

Two teams with something to prove meet on Wednesday when Crvena Zvezda mts Belgrade hosts Zalgiris Kaunas. Zvezda (1-1) wants to back up its strong showing on the road last week where it spanked Maccabi Playtika Tel Aviv by celebrating with its fans in the team’s home opener. The trio of Nikola Kalinic, Nate Wolters and Luka Mitrovic has been in fine form with the former two combining for 36 points in Tel Aviv while the latter posted a double-double. Zalgiris (0-2) will take the floor for the first time with Jure Zdovc on the bench after he replaced Martin Schiller as head coach over the weekend. Zalgiris lost at home to Zenit St Petersburg on Thursday and lost starting center Joffrey Lauvergne to a shoulder injury in the process. Janis Strelnieks paced the attack with 14 points in defeat.

AS Monaco will make its first trip to the Spanish capital in the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague when it visits the winningest team in competition history, Real Madrid, on Wednesday. Real (1-1) comes off a 74-68 loss at the hands of Olympiacos Piraeus. Nigel Williams-Goss led Los Blancos with 16 points and Walter Tavares added 15 and 3 blocks in defeat.

Monaco improved to 2-0 with an overtime victory at UNICS Kazan. Donta Hall shined with 16 points and 8 rebounds off the bench and Mike James contributed 14 and 7. This will be the first time these teams have met since the Korac Cup quarterfinals in 1988. Real swept Monaco en route to lifting the trophy.

• Barcelona is 18-10 against Olympiacos in this century.

One of the six undefeated teams entering Round 3 is certain to fall on Wednesday when FC Barcelona hosts Olympiacos Piraeus. Barcelona improved to 2-0 last week with a road win over FC Bayern Munich. Cory Higgins led the way with 16 points and 5 assists. Olympiacos bested Real Madrid at home with Sasha Vezenkov rising to the occasion with 16 points and 10 rebounds. The Reds arrive in Spain with two former Barcelona players in Vezenkov and Kostas Papanikolaou. Barcelona has won three of the last four meetings between these teams, but last season each team defeated the other on the road.

Tip: 2 (+8.5) at 1.90 with bet365